Iraq Bomb Attack Kills U.S. Soldier BAGHDAD, Iraq - A coordinated roadside bomb attack on a U.S. convoy in northern Iraq (news - web sites) killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi civilian Sunday, the military said.
The attack, in which one soldier also was wounded, began Sunday in Beiji about 90 miles south of the northern city of Mosul when a bomb exploded at the side of the road, the military said in a statement. A vehicle then raced toward the patrol and fired on the soldiers, who returned fire, killing the driver, the military said. The attack set an oil tanker ablaze, and thick black smoke filled the air, witnesses said. The Iraqi civilian killed by the bomb had been traveling behind the convoy, the military said. The deaths came a day after four U.S. Marines were killed in a vehicle accident near Camp Fallujah in western Iraq, the military said Sunday. More than 875 service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq. The country has been torn by a persistent insurgency for more than 14 months. In recent months, insurgents have begun kidnapping and threatening to kill foreigners here. In the latest hostage crisis, the Philippines on Sunday ruled out an early troop withdrawal from Iraq as demanded by the captors of Filipino truck driver Angelo dela Cruz. In a statement sent to the al-Jazeera television station Saturday night, the group, the Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin Al-Waleed Corps, gave the Philippines a Sunday night deadline to agree to withdraw its 51-member peacekeeping force here by July 20 or it would kill dela Cruz. After an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday, the Philippines government refused. "In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on Aug. 20, 2004," Foreign Secretary Delia Albert told reporters. Negotiations for dela Cruz's release were continuing through "formal and informal channels," Albert said. "We are hopeful that with the continued support and prayers of the people, we will hurdle this crisis." Another militant group, the Tawhid and Jihad movement linked to Jordanian terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on Sunday claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday on a military headquarters in the city of Samarra that killed five U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi National Guardsman. The group claimed to have killed dozens of Americans and hundreds of Iraqis. The military said insurgents detonated a car bomb and then fired mortars at the building used jointly by the 1st Infantry Division and Iraqi guardsmen. "One of the lions of the martyrs' brigade, entered the building and destroyed it completely, plus six Hummers, including those who were inside them, thank God," the group said in a statement posted on a web site. The group said that as troops tried to escape from the building, "the soldiers of God were waiting for them and rained those who came with mortar shells." The military said five soldiers and one Iraqi guardsman were killed in the attack. Al-Zarqawi's network claimed responsibility for near-simultaneous attacks in four cities across Iraq in June that included car bombings as well as military-style ambushes on Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops. U.S. military officials feared Iraq's secular guerrillas, tied to the former regime of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), were coordinating their attacks with al-Zarqawi. Demonstrators, some supporting the former regime, others opposed to it, took to the streets Sunday. In Baqouba north of Baghdad, about 100 people marched through the shopping district, chanting pro-Saddam slogans, waving rifles and carrying posters of the former leader. "This is a protest against the American infidels and everyone who supports them," one man yelled. Demonstrators in Baghdad held a mock trial and execution of Saddam, hoisting an effigy from a hangman's noose and setting it on fire. "We want him to be tried in an Iraqi court and executed, nowhere else," one protester said. Separately, five women, calling themselves "The Iraq Suicide Group," in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, threatened lawyers who would "dare to breach the limits of God" by representing Saddam. Also Sunday, Islamic militants in Baghdad opened fire on a downtown shop selling alcohol, destroying the merchandise and kidnapping an employee, witnesses said. "They came in two cars and shouted "God is Great," as they opened fire," said Rafid Fadil, a witness. Several cars were also destroyed in the attack. The attack came a day after insurgents blew up three liquor stores in Baqouba, spreading fears Islamic militants may be trying to impose their strict interpretation of Islam. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. 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